In an update to a recent posting on GiveWell, we have learned that they just received a $100K grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (This is in addition to an earlier grant from the Hewlett Foundation to a Better Business Bureau project called the Wise Giving Alliance. The Alliance, based in Arlington, Virginia, works to improve the transparency of nonprofit organizations by asking that they adhere to its standards for governance and finances in return for the Alliance’s seal of approval. The new grant will help the Alliance incorporate standards of effectiveness into its approval process.)
On a related note, the Wall St. Journal has published some charity-related observations of its own.
This seems to be somewhat controversial stuff, and there is a definite trend in more oversight over philanthropy, geared toward measuring effectiveness.
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This Month
Month Archive
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Friday, December 19
Thursday, December 18
Doug Eustace and the Christmas Bird Count
by
Lawrence
on Thu 18 Dec 2008 06:27 PM PST
Last night's The Observer ran this story on its front page, chronicling Doug's role in the Christmas Bird Count and his birding activities. Quotes from Janet are also featured. Don't miss this!
Let It Fall
by
Lawrence
on Thu 18 Dec 2008 03:43 PM PST
Suddenly at about 3pm the snow started falling -- at an incredible rate.
 And this truck, snow-free, was parked in the lot about 15 minutes before the snow started.  Wednesday, December 17
An Unintended Circumnavigation
by
Lawrence
on Wed 17 Dec 2008 04:31 PM PST
 A friend who is a flying enthusiast just pointed me to an amazing World War II-era story that I thought was worth sharing. It seems that it would be worthy of a PBS documentary or even a feature movie. Check it out here.
Happy Birthday, Grandma Janet!
by
Lawrence
on Wed 17 Dec 2008 08:21 AM PST
In celebration of Janet's something-th birthday, last night Kim drove Janet, Ivi and three of her musician friends across the Valley to the Elgin Opera House. There they enjoyed a musical performance of A Christmas Carol, somehow staying warm and toasty despite the outside temp of minus 10!
Monday, December 15
Lanetta Paul and Friends
by
Lawrence
on Mon 15 Dec 2008 10:21 AM PST
 The annual tradition of Lanetta Paul's Christmas-time concert seems to just get better every year. I don't know how long this has been going on -- I have seen it at least three or four times, maybe more. This year's program -- click on the paper clip icon at the bottom of this article to activate the link to see the 278K PDF attachment -- was very diverse and the most adventuresome I have heard, in terms of going beyond the usual fare. For me, the most captivating new performer to my ears was Katie Fetz and her clarinet work, doing a von Weber piece. Greg Johnson's saxophone was expectedly soaring, although The Lake was new to me. And a very nice surprise was to hear the "sometimes-our-song" (speaking of Kim and myself) from La Boheme: O Soave Fanciulla, done by local operatic tenor hero, Kiel Fauske, and Allison Bassett doing the soprano. I must break down and bring a monopod to these events.Hand-held -- well, balustrade-supported, really -- photography of large, dim interiors can be needlessly challenging. Lanetta Paul and Friends in performance ....
With the Grande Ronde Community Choir ...
And finally, despite the dim light, I was able to squeeze off a couple of images of Lanetta Paul herself and Lisa Robertson, first violin of the Grande Ronde Symphony ...
 1 AttachmentsSaturday, December 13
Thursday, December 11
Giving Well With GiveWell
by
Lawrence
on Thu 11 Dec 2008 07:08 AM PST
It may come as no surprise, if you are aware of my GAO background -- where judging effectiveness and quality of management was the name of the game -- that I would be interested in an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of charitable organizations that seek your donations.
Visit givewell.net and see that this outfit has taken a look at 130 or so charities so far -- and only four of them have passed muster. A givewell rep recently was interviewed on an America Public Media's public radio Marketplace broadcast (my favorite and HIGHLY recommended daily business news source, btw). Go here to read a transcript, download an MP3, listen to a stream, whatever. By the way, how many research sites do you know that publish "Our Shortcomings" as a main menu item, or even acknowledge that they aren't perfect? And while we are on the topic of charitable giving, if you want more information on just about any nonprofit you can think of -- including taking a look at their Form 990 [annual filing required by the IRS from tax-exempt organizations] -- with a link allowing you to make an immediate donation if you wish, go to the nonprofit site, Guidestar.Org. Wednesday, December 10
The Future Is On Its Way
by
Lawrence
on Wed 10 Dec 2008 09:47 AM PST
Many of you know that I am a big Mini Cooper fan, going all the way back to the time in the 1970s-Los Angeles, that my Porsche 911 was soundly dusted by a tweaked Mini. Now, this from the L.A. Auto Show:
 A New York Times piece says: While General Motors has been plodding along and burning through the dollars developing its Chevrolet Volt “extended-range” electric vehicle (now due in late 2010), Mini, with help from its parent, BMW, took a mere 10 months to develop the Mini E. Myself, I would want to wait for the performance version -- maybe a JCW-E? (Here's a little info on the existing JCW.) On a related note, Tom Friedman, in his New York Times column, today talks about what has happened While Detroit Slept. Sunday, December 7
Friday, December 5
A Cautionary Tale
by
Lawrence
on Fri 05 Dec 2008 07:03 AM PST
 Daughter Ivi has become a veritable knitting machine. Particularly under the spell of Grandma Janet, she knits while watching TV, while listening to music, while doing homework. Stephen Colbert spells out the danger of this dangerously -- dare I say it? -- addictive behavior here: |
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